‘A tough boss but a fair boss’

Silver Point Beach Club’s Kenneth Steele is remembered

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Though Silver Point Beach Club manager Kenneth Steele died on March 19, family and friends came together for a memorial service at the Atlantic Beach-based club.

Steele, 66, had been the manager at Silver Point Beach Club for 40 years. Vice President Bill Baumert said Steele’s ashes were spread across the ocean at the July 14 memorial service. “He was a tough boss but a fair boss,” Baumert said of Steele. “He was kind, generous to his family and had a lot of friends.”

Steele lived in Atlantic Beach from April to September to oversee the beach club and lived in Sanibel Island, Fla. for the remainder of the year. He and his wife, Patricia, met at the beach club and celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary last summer. “He had a big personality,” she said. “He was a tough boss but a fair boss who held his employees to certain standards.”

Patricia added that Steele enjoyed golfing and fishing. “He was a great dad who adored his children and taught them how to play golf,” she said.

More than 100 people attended the memorial service including Silver Point Beach Club member Rhonda Glickman who said Steele operated the club since she joined in 1984. “It’s such a huge place and [Steele] was a fabulous manager and everyone knew him,” she said. “He always rode around the club on a four wheeler and I can still feel his presence there.”

Services were held on March 23 at St. Isabel’s Catholic Church in Sanibel Island.

He is survived by wife Patricia (Quigley) Steele, daughters Amanda and Kendall, sister Sandra Mele and nephews Michael and Christopher Mele.